What Really Happens in Hip Openers

Dr. Robin ArmstrongSeptember 14, 20124

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One of the most common requests heard in a yoga class is hip
openers{.inline-media .inline-video} today please. This
request is usually followed by the other half of the class groaning. We
love to hate hip openers yet our bodies crave them and often feel
lighter and more open after — for good reason. The majority of us sit
for most of our days, shortening the hip flexors at the front of the hip
(psoas, rectus femoris, sartorius) and tightening the hip rotators
(piriformis, obturator internus, gamellus, to name a few).

A Look Inside the Hip

The hip joint itself is a ball and socket type joint with the head of
the femur (thigh bone) sitting in the acetabulum or socket of the
pelvis. A variety of muscles attach into the femur starting from the
pelvis itself, the lumbar spine, the sacrum, or other parts of the
femur. Hip openers could affect any of the muscles surrounding the hip
depending on the position of the joint at the time of the pose.

In general when we stretch or open a muscle we are lengthening its
position, moving the two attachment points away from each other. This is
easy to assess with linear muscles like the psoas which attaches from
the front of the lumbar spine, crosses through the pelvis and attaches
to the head of the femur. If we flex the hip forward we are shortening
the psoas, bringing the two attachments of the muscle closer together.
If we extend the hip backwards (such as in the back leg of Pigeon
pose{.inline-media .inline-image .pose-image}) we are
opening and lengthening the psoas. The effect becomes greater in King
Pigeon{.inline-media .inline-video} pose if we assume
an upright posture with our spine so that we lengthen the upper
attachment more. In this example we can also rethink our definition of
hip openers. Suddenly, poses with a bent knee where we rotate the hip
are not the only way to open our hips. If the psoas attaches into the
femur, and a shortened psoas tightens our hip (not to mention the affect
it has on our low back) then poses like Warrior /
Virabhadrasana or
Half Moon / Ardha Chandrasana{.inline-media .inline-image .pose-image} become hip openers too.

Rotate to Open a Rotator

The rule of how to open a muscle becomes less clear with the hip
rotators where the angle of the joint actually affects the action of the
muscle. For example, the piriformis muscle attaches from the front of
the sacrum to the back of the femur. It acts as an external or outward
rotator of the hip. Except if the hip is flexed, then it assists in
abduction or sideways movement of the hip. So to follow the rule of
opening we would want to internally rotate the femur, flex the hip and
adduct or bring the femur towards midline. This can be achieved with the
top leg in Marichyasana (sit with your left leg extended, bend your
right knee and step the foot across your left thigh so that the femur is
flexed, adducted toward midline, and gently internally rotated.) Other
hip openers don't seem to follow the rule of opening. We often
externally rotate the hip to stretch the external rotators of the hip.
Huh? The reason this works is because we typically flex the hip at the
same time.

Use Your X-Ray Vision

To understand how hip openers work we have to picture the position of
the muscle. Let's picture the obturator internus muscle, a close friend
of piriformis. It attaches from our sitting bone or ischial tuberosity
to the greater trochanter of the femur, a bony outcropping on the side
of the hip. We can feel both of these pieces of bony anatomy. Our
ischial tuberosities can be felt when sitting, they are the bony bits
under the flesh of our buttocks. Our greater trochanter can be felt by
first finding the top of our pelvis by by placing our hands at our
waist, firmly pressing in and down until we feel a ledge. This is our
iliac crest. Slide your hands down and with your thumb you will feel a
bony prominence that is the femur. You can feel it move by slowing
rotating the hip in and out. So now we can feel the attachment points
for the obturator internus, between the ischial tuberosity or sitting
bone, and our femur. From this observation we can see that in a neutral
position the muscle wraps around the hip. So if were to flex the hip,
the ischial tuberosity scoops under thus increasing the space between
the two attachment points and increasing the wrapping distance of the
muscle – hence lengthening the muscle. This is why a simple squat (using
the term simple lightly) can stretch our hip rotators and can be one of
the reasons Westerners find it so challenging to achieve.

Opening Our Hips to Open to Possibility

Since there are many muscles in the hip with many functions depending on
the demands we place on our body, keeping these muscles supple can help
us in ways that may not seem obvious at first. Hip
openers{.inline-media .inline-video} may help us attain
a standing pose we've been struggling with, or they may help us get down
on the ground easily to play with our kids or our kitten. Traditional
yogic thought attributes many healing properties to hip openers from
organ issues to sexual dysfunction. So if you are one of the groaners
when hip openers are suggested, perhaps pause to wonder if they could be
helping you in ways you weren't even aware.

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Dr. Robin Armstrong

Dr. Robin Armstrong is a chiropractor and yoga teacher in the Kitsilano neighborhood of Vancouver. Combining her two roles, she has taught yoga anatomy for a number of yoga teacher training programs as well as workshops for yoga teachers to understand how our anatomy affects our yoga practice. She regularly contributes articles about yoga and health and has been published in the Globe and Mail, Vancouver View, Alive Magazine, and Myyogaonline.com as well as writing a regular blog about yoga anatomy and injury avoidance, smarteryoga.com.
Dr. Robin is in private chiropractic practice in a multidisciplinary clinic where she uses traditional Chiropractic, Active Release Technique, and Yoga Therapy to get her patients moving and feeling their best. In her free time she enjoys practicing Anusara or Iyengar yoga, hiking, traveling and learning more about making green and healthy choices to serve our planet and ourselves.